Hiding Within Part 5
by N.V.9
Summary: Have you ever been so afraid that it penetrated you so deeply, that you were frozen in time? That it stayed with you even after many years had gone by? A fear so powerful it controlled your life? Took over your being, made you a shimmer of what you once were? Where you never think beyond it? COMPLETE


**Look toward profile/bio for disclaimer and anything else involving this story.**

Have you ever been so afraid that it penetrated you so deeply, that you were frozen in time? That it stayed with you even after many years had gone by? A fear so powerful it controlled your life? Took over your being, made you a shimmer of what you once were? Where you never think beyond it?

Where you can never run from it? Hide from it? That every shadow becomes an enemy? Every shape becomes a threat?

Where smaller insignificant fears become nonexistant in face of this one? Where fear becomes anxiety? Panic? Pain? Hate?

Where it takes on other names, but stays the same? Where the noises intensify and overtake your own?

Have you ever been so scared, you just wanted to die?

-(X)-

The claws of fear dug in deeply, his chest unable to expand, unable to allow him to breathe. He was beyond petrified. He couldn't move, though he tried. Watching and waiting as he came closer. As the whip swung gently, back and forth. The blood dripping in an innocent pattern.

The footsteps being created one by one, showing how easily this was to him.

"Come little kitty, lets play a game." the boy grinned before striking out with the whip.

With a cry, Deidara moved, barely missing the toy the human played with as it teased him. The scent of death clung to the human, the bodies of his family left, skinned and forgotten, as the humans continued to skin the rest of his litter mates. The dogs eating the meat the humans tossed away.

"Bad kitty." the boy chuckled, bringing laughs from the others as they continued to work.

How had this happened? How had his family been happy only days ago and now layed dead and dying, each dying slow painful deaths as the humans skinned them alive? Even now, one of his skinned brothers struggled to live as the dog began to eat his hind leg. He wanted his brother to die, he didn't want him to feel any more pain. He wanted him to go quickly like their mother had gone. Like their sister didn't get a chance to do. Like the baby of their family wasn't being allowed to do. His hisses and cries of pain escaping his muzzle and still the human held him down and continued to work, slowly peeling and cutting his beautiful fur away.

"Careful boy!" a man snapped, "Don't mark him, his fur will lose price if you do that!"

"I was only playing." the boy pouted but moved back, leaving the cage Deidara was stuck within alone. "He's a beaut, boss. No more then a few months old."

"He will probably sell for more as a pet then a coat." another man commented as he drank from a can. "Everyone wants a wild beast."

"Until it attacks them." the man that continued to skin his brother smirked, finally pulling the bloody fur free. Tossing his brother toward the ground, ignoring as one of the dogs grabbed the bloody screaming lump and ran. "Wash this boy, do not tear it."

And in the shadows of his cage, Deidara watched this all. The stars shining above as they flew across the sky.

-(X)-

Jerking awake, Deidara gasped and shivered, the sweat on his body causing the sheets to stick. Why did he dream his past again? Why did he see it all? Why couldn't he run from it as Gaara had done? Let his go as Kiba had done? Why couldn't he be free from the memories that always haunted him?

He couldn't do as Haku had said, embrace what made him. Embracing it would only break him. He knew if Haku knew the whole story, more then him being held and tortured in a human's cage, knew that he had watched his family being skinned alive, eaten alive by the human's pets, Haku would lose the vision he held of his humans. All he had to do was whisper his story, cry his pain, and Haku would no longer hold the humans so close to his own heart.

But he couldn't do that, couldn't break the illusion and Haku's heart so brutally. He couldn't hurt him. To hurt Haku would only break Deidara more. Haku was his friend, his sanity. Comforting him as he had cried and broke with each day that had come when Naruto had killed the humans that held him, and Hidan had broken him free of the barbwire fence, cutting the chains and breaking the locks.

He knew if the pregnancy wasn't in it's last stages, that if it would let him move without pain of some form, Haku would have been here already, holding him close until he became calm again. Telling him that he was safe as he kissed his hair and rejoined Hidan hours later, never staying the night with him. Haku had tried to stay, but Deidara didn't wish to taint him. Didn't wish Haku to see his memories play out. See his family die, see others die. None of them needed to know that his eyes had seen countless death by the human's hands. Some shifters like him and others, wild cats, not that the humans could tell the difference.

He wished Haku would comfort him. Even if it was for a few minutes, Deidara needed the soothing cat's touch. Curling into himself, Deidara began to whisper the words that the ocelot would always say. Even then the tears fell, the fear grew, the pain expanded, his heart bled.

"Shhhh." he heard Naruto say as the cat ran into his room, "It's alright Deidara. It's alright." when Naruto's bare arms wrapped around him, Deidara turned and sobbed into the Jaguar's bare chest. Ignoring the fact that Naruto wore no clothing and smelt faintly of sex, Deidara held him tighter.

He wanted his family's cries to be chased away, to leave him forever. He wanted the pain to stop, but instead it clutched him. Held him tighter. All those deaths he watched and seen and still his family was the only one he remembered clearly.

He tried to break free, to run from it, but it was fighting him. It was pulling him back. Showing him again and again what he was too small to stop. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't see beyond the fear.

"Deidara!" he heard Naruto shout from a distance as the panic attack came. Choking him.

"Move." someone ordered as they took Naruto's place and pulled him close to their own body. The warm hands running over his body as the cat took another shape. Fur appearing in place of skin. In moments, the body of the man disappeared and the body of a cat took it's place. The tongue of the shifter running over his shoulders, his face, his tears. The nimble movements of the snow leopard soothing him faster then Haku's own hands had done. Without thought, Deidara shifted. He let his lynx take over, let the snow leopard curl around him, comfort him.

Slowly the trembling calmed down, allowing his body to relax and him to sleep.

-(X)-

"Are you alright Deidara?" Haku asked him when he walked toward the other shifter, his body still exhausted. Waking only hours ago, he found himself alone in his bed the smell of the snow leopard, no, Itachi. It was Itachi that had come to him. That had saved him from his attack. Why the leopard was in their cabin was no surprise. Hidan had thought it better if they had given up their cabin and moved in with them. Taking the extra rooms, or sharing them. With Sasuke with Naruto, Gaara with Neji, and Kiba now with Shikamaru, they had the room. Itachi taking Hidan's and Haku's room since the ocelot preferred to sleep before the fire.

"I'm fine." Deidara answered, Haku the only one he could speak to without stuttering, when they were alone. Moving to sit beside the small cat, making sure they didn't touch. He didn't like to be touched, not by anyone. Everytime someone touched him, they hurt him. He only allowed touch when an attack happened.

"Deidara," Haku said gently turning his body, with some difficulty, taking a breath as a contraction hit him. The cat only having a day or so left before the cub came, but from the looks of it, the cub would come sooner then that. In the kitchen he heard Hidan heating up water for the birth.

"Are you scared?" Deidara asked softly, picking up some of the towels placed on the floor.

"Excited." Haku answered with a tense smile, his eyes telling the truth.

Deidara nodded, smoothing out the towels, only to wrinkle them again, wishing he could voice his next question.

"If you need to run, I'll understand." Haku said, already knowing what was on Deidara's mind. He didn't do well with anyone in pain. Didn't do well with blood or screams. Everytime he saw or heard this, he'd revert to the past.

"Thank you." Deidara nodded quickly, getting up and walking toward the open door. When he heard another grunt from Haku, he shifted quickly and ran.

-(X)-

The snow crunched under his paws, the air cold enough to stiffen the once newly fallen snow. He knew he left little to no signs of his travels, the snow not deep enough to allow a footprint, only a smudge. He saw branches peeking out, defying what was wanted of it as they stood proudly. Yet Deidara know that with the right push, they'd break. Nothing was untouchable. Humans crumbled easily, shifters did the same. He knew that the cats he ran with all had their breaking points. Each of them facing them, but unlike Deidara, all had overcome them. All had fought them and won. Deidara couldn't fight his. How do you fight a memory that bled you dry? How do you fight fear so deep it hurt?

His fear drove him, made it impossible to think beyond it. He couldn't smile without force. Couldn't eat, sleep, breathe. He was afraid. So afraid that he wanted so badly to go away for good. He wanted to die to end it. To save himself. But he couldn't. He couldn't figure out how to go about it in a way that wouldn't scare him.

Spotting a big boulder ahead of him, Deidara made his way toward it, bunching his legs before jumping and resting upon it. Tilting his head he took in the stars, watching them as they watched him. What did they see? Did they see the pain of the world? Did they see at all? How many people were suffering now and how many did they silently watch? That they wish they could save?

Hearing a whistle, Deidara jumped slightly before turning. In the shadows of the trees, he made out Itachi's form, the cat pausing as he waited for Deidara to calm. Since the last time the snow leopard had caught him by surprise, causing Deidara to lash out and fall to pieces, Itachi had begun to whistle. Trying not to startle him as he announced his presents, making more noise then was needed, learning as the others had learned to be around him. Why he wished to always be with him, Deidara couldn't phantom, but in an odd way, sitting in the silence with the bigger cat was comforting. Sometimes Itachi spoke to him, but Deidara never spoke back. He rarely spoke, taking more courage then he needed to utter a word, his panic attacks the only time he talked, but only then it was to comfort himself. When he spoke at all, he felt proud of himself for a few moments, Haku's eyes always lighting up at his voice. He felt like he could face anything, but then it came back and he'd be back to the beginning again.

"It's a beautiful night." Itachi said, standing a few feet away from the boulder, Deidara watching him the whole time, but the cat showed no signs he noticed. His dark gaze looking toward the stars that had captured Deidara a moment ago. "The stars always look beautiful from the mountain tops. Untouched and unclaimed." Itachi said. On that, Deidara could agree with. As a cub, before the deaths, he'd watch the stars. None would ever be as beautiful and pure as those. "Eyes of the heavens that protect us all."

No, Deidara wanted to say, the stars didn't protect them. They watched but always did nothing.

"When I miss my home the most, I look at them." Itachi went on. "They never change. Everywhere we have traveled, they had always looked the same."

They weren't though.

"When they fall, the humans call them wishing stars." at that Itachi turned and met his gaze. "But I believe that they are crying. Falling stars are their way of mourning."

Mourning?

"They see more then we ever will." Itachi sighed, sitting in the snow, uncaring of the cold. Both of them born to run within this weather. "They must cry when it becomes too much. When I see them fall, I wounder who it is they are suffering with."

Me. They suffer with me. Deidara thought, looking toward the stars again. They had fell then, fell as his heart broke to pieces and his mind snapped. Fell as the fear grew and as the last of his family was taken away.

"They only fall," Itachi said, breaking into his thoughts, "for those that need them most. I know this because they didn't fall for us, when our home fell to pieces. They knew we would be okay, we may not have, but they knew. Only someone special will gain their tears." When Deidara showed no signs of shifting and answering, Itachi sighed again. "Deidara...Let me be your star. Let me cry with you and carry the burden of your pain."

Looking from the stars, Deidara turned to Itachi, letting the other see how much pain he had. Letting him see that no amount of tears would ever free him. At Itachi's shocked gasp, he jumped from the boulder and made his way farther from the snow leopard. Pausing by the trees, he turned to face Itachi, the other still watching him. With more bravery then he felt, he forced himself to shift, forced himself to meet Itachi's stunned eyes. Forced himself to utter his question. "Is it an honor to have them cry with you? Or is it a curse?" not waiting for an answer, he shifted back once more and ran.

-(X)-

When the sun began to rise, Deidara made his way back toward the cabin. Spending the night in the wilds, hiding within the roots of a tree, Deidara had stayed as still as stone, refusing to go home. He knew he wasn't alone, feeling Itachi near by at all times. He felt Naruto and Gaara a few times. Kiba once, but all left when Itachi's power intensfied, only to drop when they left. He knew the others worried for him. Each wanting to heal him. But none that had never been as he, would ever heal him. They would never understand enough to heal him.

As he got closer to the cabin, he felt the cats of the other shifters, their presence as one, stronger and more powerful then any other cats they had run across. When a shadow shifted to his right, a tree snapping with more force then necessary, he knew Itachi was walking with him.

"There you are," Naruto sighed, a relieved smile appearing on his face when Deidara came into view. "Deidara, the baby came. A little girl." Naruto went on as Deidara made no move to come closer. Though he cared for them, Deidara could only see them as intimidating as the humans. Perhaps that's why Haku calmed him. Haku wasn't like the humans in size, smaller then the others, then the humans. Then Deidara. "Tiny little thing, she'll most likely take after Haku in form."

"It is clean if you wish to see her." Gaara commented, stepping away from the door, Kiba and Naruto doing the same, dragging the snow leopards when they made no move to follow. "Haku is waiting for you."

Nodding, Deidara moved to the top of the stairs and shifted. Slowly he limped toward the front door, entering when Haku called to him.

In front of the fire, Haku craddled the little cub in his arms as he smiled in bliss at his daughter. Behind him, Hidan held his family close, kissing Haku's shoulder gently and running a finger over his daughter's dainty head.

The little cub looked like a tiny replica of Haku. Same flawless skin, dark hair, beautiful dark eyes. "Come see her Deidara." Haku said again, looking up. Nodding shakily, Deidara stopped a foot away from them, his eyes unable to look away from the cub, especially when the little cub looked back at him. His mind falling once more to his hell, no longer seeing her, but another female. Another one begging to be saved. "Her name is Hanare."

"Do you wish to hold her?" Hidan asked him.

Shaking his head again, Deidara took a step back.

"Deidara?" Haku frowned.

Taking another step back, Deidara tried to force himself to breathe. But the images came. He saw the hunters grabbing them, locking them in cages. Saw them taking his mother's life as he and his litter mates called for her to save them. Saw them skin his sister, her eyes looking in to Deidara's own as she begged to be saved. Her pain overwhelming her as the knife touched her.

When he walked into the wall, Deidara slid down, his body heaving and shaking so badly he thought the earth was moving.

"Deidara, it's okay. Breathe." Hidan commented as he came toward him, scaring Deidara even more as he Hidan's form disappeared and another took his place. Without meaning to, Deidara struck out, catching Hidan across the face with his growing claws. Ignoring the surprised gasp of the others, he tried to find an escape. When he tried to run, something grabbed him, held him down as he struggled.

"Deidara!"

"NO!" Deidara screamed, no longer with them. "No! Mama! Mama! Save me! Mama!" he cried struggling even more, seeing the whip beat at his mother's dead form. Seeing the dogs run off with his screaming brother's skinned body. "Please! NO! Mama! Save me, Mama!"

"Deidara! Please-"

"Please! Please!" he cried as his head was forcefully turned around, until his eyes met with a dark gaze. "Please!"

"Deidara, it's me Itachi. You're safe." Itachi whispered toward him, trying to hold him still.

"No! NO! NO! NO! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" he saw the knife coming. Saw it getting closer. He was next. They would skin him next. They would take him!

"DEIDARA!" someone shouted as they forced Itachi back. In his place, Haku kneeled before him, his soft hands craddling Deidara's head. "Deidara, listen to me. It's me. It's Haku. It's okay. I promise you, nothing's going to happen. I won't let it."

"It happened already." Deidara answered, his voice not sounding like him. It was too hollow. Too empty to be his. "They took them. I watched."

"Deidara?"

"They cried to be saved, but no one would come. I was next. I was next but they didn't get me. They kept me. I saw them all. I saw them die. All of them died and I couldn't."

"Deidara, what are you talk-"

"They did it when they were alive. Laughing as they cried and screamed. Tossing their bodies away to be eaten by their pets."

"What?"

At a gasp, Deidara turned his dead eyes toward Gaara. Saw the shock and disbelief within them and he knew Gaara understood. "I hear them still. I hear them as it happened. I can't be free. I can't..." with that, his body went limp and the world went dark.

-(X)-

"What did he mean Gaara?" Kiba asked as Itachi barely caught the lynx, holding him gently in his arms.

"I..." Gaara said, his voice unable to form words. In the back of his mind, Itachi heard a cry but it didn't register until Haku moved away from them to pick up his daughter gently from the mounds of blankets and pillows.

"What holds him in such pain?" Itachi asked, unable to forget the last expression on Deidara's face. His mate's face. He knew Deidara was his, had known since he caught his scent. He had wanted to claim him, had almost tried but the fear Deidara carried making it impossible. The last and only time he almost forced the bonding, Deidara had panicked. Kiba had attacked him, telling him to back the hell off the lynx. For a few days he stayed away from Deidara, but he couldn't do it forever. Hidan had told him he'd have to slowly move his way into his heart and so Itachi had followed his advice. Had done all he could to be with Deidara. Following him and protecting him. Getting as close as he could whenever he could to the scarred lynx. One day Deidara would accept him, he told himself. One day. "Please tell me."

"It can't be what he meant. It can't." Gaara said taking a step back, his eyes wide and unblinking as they gazed down at the sleeping Lynx.

"What?" Neji asked moving to comfort him. "Gaara?"

"My family...hunters of the village we lived by, they attacked my mother and brother. They took their lives and then their fur."

"What!" Kiba gasped in shock.

"They killed them first and kept the furs as trophies as they fed off their meat." Gaara went on, trembling as he did so.

"I don't understand." Shikamaru frowned. "Deidara-"

"Saw his family skinned." Gaara cut him off. "Saw hunters doing what I was saved from seeing."

"No..." Itachi voiced in shock, looking down at the petite cat in his arms. The horror of what Deidara must have seen, god he couldn't...

"Hanare triggered the attack." Haku broke the stunned silence, tears falling down his face, landing on his daughter's hair.

That was enough for everyone else to understand. Deidara had to have been a cub when it happened. He had to have watched his litter mates being skinned alive, eaten alive. Deidara's words, his question about the falling stars being a curse or an honor, hitting him. Had they fallen that night?

"He was there for a long time." Naruto said into the silence. "He saw more then his family die at a hunters hands."

"Oh god." Kiba said shakily, holding onto Shikamaru. "It is no wonder he stays away from the humans. Why he never wanted to go into a city or to come here. Why knives scare him and noises, blood...it all makes sense. His fears...oh god."

"Are your humans still so pure?" Itachi asked Haku, meeting the ocelots crying eyes. "Are they still so innocent?"

"Don't." Hidan growled, stepping between him, his animal seconds away from attacking.

"Not all humans are cruel." Haku said into the tense silence, his voice still filled with shock, no longer sounding as if he believed his words.

"Enough of them are." Itachi answered in a softer tone. "There are more like them. There will always be more."

"Take him." Naruto said suddenly. "Take him away from here. Far away from a human. Take him where no one will hurt him again. Take him and heal him. When he's ready come find us again."

"Narut-"

"No, Hidan. The lynx belongs to Itachi. Only Itachi can heal him. We do more harm then good. We praise the humans at times, go about their ways. Do their things. It is all a reminder of what had happened to him. We are part of why he's still afraid. We try and fix him but we only drag him deeper. Deidara needs freedom from this fear. Be it months, years, a lifetime, let him be free of what has held him forever."

With everyone's gaze on him, Hidan stiffly nodded, his eyes unable to move from Deidara. "Watch over our cat, Itachi." he said finally, moving away to sit with Haku, to comfort his little lynx.

"Protect my family." Itachi said in turn, looking from Neji to Shikamaru and finally Sasuke. With a small smile on his lips, Itachi nodded his good-bye, walking out of the cabin and away from the human's world.

-(X)-

It had been eight months since Deidara had woken, since he had last saw the family he had come to care for. He had woken in the highest part of a mountain, days after he had another attack. He knew they weren't anywhere near the resort. They were somewhere else. Somewhere that Itachi would not say. Instead, Itachi would just move him along, taking them farther from everyone else. Farther from the human's world and into another. One he could not even remember without the pain.

They stayed as cats for the journey, never once shifting to human. Staying as they were born, and living as they were meant to. As cats, Deidara didn't fear Itachi, not as much as before. When they slept, Itachi slept curled around him. When they hunted, Itachi ran beside him. Whatever they did, Itachi was there. His body always touching him. He wished this was how they could have been with the others. But where they always ended up, was impossible. The humans were always so close to stay cat for long.

Feeling a tongue lick his ear, Deidara jumped but didn't lash out. Used to this closeness that Itachi had put upon them. When the snow leopard moved beside him, almost on top of him, Deidara shivered. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but as of late, his body had been heated and twitching. Waiting for something he couldn't figure out. As the tongue continued to groom him, Deidara closed his eyes and rested his head on his paws. This was what peace felt like. What life without fear was. Any nightmares he had were chased away by Itachi, the cat doing all he could to pull him from his memories.

He knew that this wouldn't last forever. That this peace would be gone someday. That they would have to return to the humans world and find the others. Deidara had seen the longing on Itachi's face. He knew he missed his brother and the others. It was selfish of him to keep the leopard away from his family. To punish him for his past. He didn't wish to do it, but he knew he had no choice. It was time to let Itachi go. To let the snow leopard find his family. It was time to go alone.

-(X)-

That night, as Itachi slept, Deidara stood at the entrance of their makeshift home, the stars shining brightly above him. With a heavy heart, he sent Itachi one last glance, wishing he could stay and knowing he couldn't. Before he could stop himself, he jumped, dropping to the ledge below before running off. His paws eating up the snow, allowing him to almost fly above the white substance. He wanted to run. Run so far and fast that nothing would find him.

Nonshifting cats always knew when it was time to go. When their time had come. Deidara always wondered if shifters knew too. If they understood when their time was up. He had never felt the time. Never felt the end. He wanted to end it all, but...there was no but anymore. The fear was almost gone. What did he have to fear?

It was time.

With a flutter in his heart, he felt something he hadn't felt before. When a cliff came into view, he paused. If he jumped over, that would be it. He'd be free.

Taking the last step that would put him just at the edge, he glanced down, seeing the distance of the fall and unable to pinpoint the ending. For those precious seconds he'd be flying. With one paw lifted over the edge, Deidara began to lean forward.

"STOP!" Itachi shouted, fear clearly in his voice. "STOP! DEIDARA!"

Pausing, Deidara turned his head, shocked by the emotion playing over his pale face. Even more shocked when he didn't get the hint of fear at seeing a human shape. Tears building and falling, pain and desparation running over him as Itachi ran. His feet barely touching the snow as he moved as fast as he could, screaming his name over and over again.

What was he doing? Didn't he understand? Didn't he get it? He could go home now. He could go back to his brother. He could find his mate.

"Deidara! Don't!" Itachi screamed as he came closer. "Please! Stop!"

Unsure of what to do, Deidara did as asked, even moving a few steps back, waiting for the snow leopard to get to him.  
"What are you doing!" Itachi shouted dropping beside him and pulling his smaller form into his arms, burying his face into Deidara's fur. "Why would you do it!" the cat cried, rocking a little. "Why Deidara? Why?"

Because he wasn't afraid anymore.

"Don't do it! Please don't. Don't let the stars cry for me! Don't let me see them fall!"

Why would they fall? He was no one important for the stars to mourn with.

"You asked me once if it was a curse or an honor. If you die, it'll be my curse!" Itachi sobbed. "Don't leave me. Please Deidara, whatever else you need, tell me. Tell me so that I can heal you! Tell me so you don't have to leave me! Not to death!"

"They would not fall Itachi." Deidara whispered into his ear, knowing he had surprised the bigger cat. Leaving his head resting on Itachi's shoulders, he turned enough to speak into the other's ear. "I am not honored enough for them to cry for again."

"It is not an honor to gain them." Itachi sobbed, holding Deidara closer, wrapping the blonde's hair tightly but gently around his hand. "It is no honor at all. Don't go."

"I'm not afraid anymore." Deidara promised him, pulling back enough to show he spoke the truth, a small smile appearing. "I'm free."

"If you are not afraid, why would you die?"

"Because I can." Deidara said, pulling back to look at the edge again. "I'm not afraid to die anymore."

"Deidara...why would you leave me?"

"I am not selfish." Deidara answered, allowing Itachi to hold him closer and finding no reason to pull away.  
"But I am." Itachi said, turning his head so that they were looking into eachothers eyes. "When it comes to you, I'll always be selfish."

"I don't-" was as far as Deidara got before Itachi's warm soft lips were touching his own. Grazing his like a butterfly would a flower. "Itachi?" he frowned when he pulled away.

"I love you." Itachi whispered. "You are mine Deidara."

"Yours?"

"Forever and always." Itachi promised, kissing him again. "If you jump, I'll follow you."

"Itachi..." Deidara gasped in surprise. Unknowing of what to say, he decided to tell him of the consquences. "I do not wish to go back to the humans world. I don't want to see them again. I don't wish to be a prisoner of my own fear."

"Then we won't go back. We'll stay here for all time. We'll build a family here and-"

"If you stay here, you'll never see your brother." Deidara said, watching the frown appear on Itachi's face. "Naruto isn't meant for this weather, this climate. He'll die here. Haku, Hidan, their baby. Even Gaara and Kiba would die here. I will not go back. I will only go forward. I don't want to see a human."

"Then see me." Itachi whispered, kissing him again. "If you wish to stay here, then we will. One day, when you're ready, we'll find them again. If that day never comes, I understand. So long as you are with me, I'll be okay."

"I can not bare you young." Deidara confided, trying to get the other to see that this wasn't right. That he belonged with the others, not with him. "I am barren by their hands."

"Wh-what?" Itachi gasped.

"They removed everything that would have allowed it. I can not give you a family." Deidara argued, hating the hunters more with those words.

"Deidara..."Itachi whispered gently, "You are all the family I could ever wish for."

-(X)-

"Itachi?" Deidara whispered into the glowing morning, waking the other cat with just a word.

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked, looking concerned as he pulled Deidara into his arms, kissing his bare shoulder.

"I...I think I'm ready now." Deidara smiled, looking toward the entrance of their home. The place they had been within for nine years. Nine years and Deidara was ready to leave his mountain. To find his family.

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked, hope flaring in his eyes. "Deidara?"

"Yes." Deidara nodded, as he turned to kiss Itachi, his mate, his beloved. "I'm ready."

"I love you."

"I love you." Deidara repeated, running a finger over Itachi's face, ending on his lips. The love he felt for this cat running through his body, his heart, his blood. "Take me home." Home to their family. To see Haku and Hidan, their daughter and any other cubs they created. To see Naruto and Sasuke, to see if Sasuke had defied all odds and birth a jaguar cub. To see Gaara and Neji, both at peace with the world, passing on the peace to any cubs they created. To see Kiba and Shikamaru, two cats so different yet the same, their own young that would be just like them.

"Alright." Itachi grinned, kissing him again, "Alright."


End file.
